Hollywood and Copyright in Australia: AFACT v iiNET

Abstract

In a landmark judgment delivered on February 4, 2010, Justice Cowdroy found in the Federal Court that the Australian ISP iiNET had not authorised copyright infringement by its users downloading movies using BitTorrent. The court case has national and international significance for the copyright responsibilities of internet service providers. This seminar will explain the decision and place it in the context of other notable copyright cases, notably Universal Studios v Cooper (who ran the Web sit mp3s4free.com.au), and Universal Studios v Sharman Networks (who operated Kazaa).

Biography

Leon Sterling is Dean of the Faculty of the ICT and has an interest in eForensics. He was an expert witness in both the Cooper and Sharman Networks trials.

Derek Whitehead is the Director Information Resources and University Copyright Officer at Swinburne, and is responsible for the library and the university website. He is a former ISP and is currently chair of the Australian Digital Alliance, a national organisation which lobbies for balanced copyright laws - www.digital.org.au